Forgiveness, Grace and Justice

Today I received the following from a good friend. He sent it to me in the hopes I would comment on it on my blog. I wrote him back and offered to do him one better by posting his original piece as guest posting, with his permission of course. The following is the piece Doug wrote about the mess concerning Governor Spitzer:

Over the past couple weeks we have been inundated with the scandalous reports about the Governor of NY and the prostitution ring he was using. His resignation was demanded and received by the press and people. Talk Shows made jokes and vilified him for his actions and the news has vaulted the young lady who provided the service to fame and fortune. Gossip and enchantment with the story have fueled the fires of this story. It is water-cooler culture at its best. The story even comes up in church as a topic of how this man is getting his just deserts for sinning. This mans weakness has ruined his life, hurt those around him, damaged relationships forever. Everyone says that he is getting what he deserves. This man rose to fame and power as a prosecutor meting out justice to others. Now in their eyes the chickens have come home to roost. Justice is being served. In churches we hear ministers talking about the sinful actions and how we pay the price for sin. An example of what happens when we sin. However; I want to weep for this man, his family, those who have been hurt and the thought that he may not be able to pull out of this destruction he has brought on to himself and his family. I look at him and say if I were him what would I do, how would I want to be treated? What would I do if one of my sins were on all the talk shows and in the news? What would I do if I hurt my wife and child by my actions?
This is something that you say which means something bad that has happened to someone else could have happened to you. Over the past few weeks we have been hearing about Gov Spitzer and how he lost all this money, you can't help thinking;
But for the Grace of God, There Go I.
In the mid 1500’s John Bradford was imprisoned in the Tower of London and while watching prisoners being taken out to be executed he made the utterance “There, But For the Grace of God, Go I”
I have noticed as I have gotten older and hopefully a little wiser that these things affect me differently than they used to. I guess it is because I have spiritually grown and I have been hurt in the past. I also have learned my limitations and believe that how I treat others will weigh against my heart when I meet judgment; but that is another sermon. However, what the Lord taught me there was to see people like he sees us all: guilty but beloved.

I once heard a story of a man who gave another man a ride on a rainy day. The driver’s daughter was with him and when he gave this man a ride she knew that this man had stolen from her Father’s store a few times, and she asked him why he would help a man like that. Her father replied, “Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t always give us what we deserve?”

The bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that God demands justice; his forgiveness requires the shedding of blood- and in Romans 3 he says that his demand for justice was satisfied by Christ’s death. Why did Christ die for us? Because he loves us and wanted to have mercy on us. Romans 9:16 says that our salvation does not depend on our effort or our desire, but on his mercy.

When you get what you deserve, that’s justice. When you don’t get what you deserve, it’s mercy. And when you get what you don’t deserve, that’s grace.

The Bible says in Romans 5 that even though we were sinners, Christ died for us. His demand for justice was balanced by his love and mercy for us, and our deserved punishment was made unnecessary by his grace.

The Bible says in Isaiah 30 that the Lord “rises to show us compassion,” and “longs to be gracious to us.” Think about the Governor for a moment, he has gotten what he deserves (probably more because of his prominence) but who is showing him mercy? We as Christians need to show this to the world. We need to pray for him and his family so that they may make it through this. Because of our actions he may also find grace through Christ. If we don’t do this he will look at our Christianity as everything else. He will get what he doesn’t deserve because he can be saved, because we as Christians were a good example of grace given to him.

In your life, never forget what has been done for you. Whatever it is that someone is doing to you that makes you want to demand justice, pause for a moment to reflect on the mercy and grace you’ve received and “long to be gracious” to that person.

And take a second to say “But for the Grace of God, There Go I”
It is a beautiful thing to have received the grace of our Lord’s salvation. And it is beautiful to him when we extend it to others. God gave it to you and me even though we didn’t deserve it. Who are we to withhold mercy and grace from another person?
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My own response to this situation seems to be a little harder to come by. I do not condone the governor’s actions that led up to this incident. I believe what he is experiencing now is justice, plain and simple. I believe it has long been a national disgrace that we prosecute prostitutes like crazy but johns hardly at all.

I think it is a difficult business reconciling just punishment with forgiveness and grace. I do not think public officials should be allowed to act however they wish to act and remain in office. If a person cannot stand up to a commitment that lasts a lifetime, he or she should not be trusted to remain true to a commitment that lasts only a few years.

When a public official does something like this and people start talking about justice, punishment, forgiveness and grace, things can start getting mighty complicated. Justice would be to fire the person and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Then people start talking about forgiveness. If we forgive, shouldn’t the person stay in office? If there is a call for ouster, can it be said that we have truly forgiven?

I believe that we are directed to forgiveness in a personal sense. If someone wrongs us, we are directed to forgiveness in several passages of the bible. In Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, Jean Valjean escaped from a workhouse and in the process stole a silver candlestick from a local priest. Police Inspector Javert caught Jean and returned him to the workhouse and brought him before the priest. Javert watches carefully as Jean brings the candlestick from his pack. Javert is fairly salivating at the thought of being able to send Jean back to the prison galleys. The priest says that Jean is welcome to the candlestick and then gives him its mate. The refusal to prosecute was forgiveness and the candlesticks were grace.

The problem comes when you try to apply this type of thinking to someone in a position of public respect and trust. If you leave the person in office, it’s forgiveness but it also starts a slippery slope that will end with every office held by the biggest scoundrels in the community. If you remove the person from office you’re making sense but you’re far less forgiving. This is especially true for a career politician in these days. The political career of such a person would be over for good.

I believe that the answer lies in the position. Mr. Spitzer violated not only the law of the land and the law of God but also the public trust. Public officials must be held to a higher standard. Anything less just won’t do. I’m not saying that this man should be pilloried or run out of town on a rail. That is the part where our public forgiveness should show forth. “There, but for the grace of God, go I!” should be the watchword on personal forgiveness, but the public official who breaks the law must be removed from office, period. For any further forgiveness or grace, such a person must turn to God. That brings me to the remedy

Unless what, you say. It seems to me that there are several examples of repentance by public officials in the Bible. David danced before the Lord all the way from the gates of the city to his palace as a public sign of repentance. Jehosaphat, Job and several others rent their garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. Betrayal of the public trust has only one suitable form of repentance in Biblical terms. It must be total, abject, very public and must go far beyond standing up to a microphone and saying “I’m sorry.” Do I mean that I want to see Mr. Spitzer publicly humiliated? No. I just think that the Bible sets the precedent clearly that a violation of the public trust must be recompensed by public penance.